Apple IPO makes instant millionaires, December 12, 1980

On December 12, 1980, Apple launched its IPO (initial public offering) of its stock, selling 4.6 million shares at $22 per share with the stock symbol “AAPL” on the NASDAQ market.

The shares sold out almost immediately and the IPO generated more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956. Instantly, about 300 millionaires, some 40 of which are Apple employees and investors, are created. That is more millionaires than any company in history had produced at that time. Steve Jobs, the largest shareholder, made $217 million dollars alone.

By the end of the day, the stock had increased in value by almost 32% to close at $29, leaving the company with a market value of $1.778 billion.

In January 1981, Apple held its first shareholders meeting as a public company in the Flint Center, a large auditorium at nearby De Anza College. Previous meetings had been held at Apple’s headquarters with a much smaller number of shareholders.

While AAPL fell in the 1990s, often below the $10 mark, it climbed above the $30 mark in the 2000 boom.

The stock climbed from 2004 into mid 2008. Although Apple dropped its reliance on computers and added consumer electronics like the iPod and iPhone to its offerings, concerns for Jobs’ health and the overall bleak economy pulled the stock down from September 2008 to early 2009 dipping to a low of $82.33 in January 2009. AAPL then reclaimed its growth to peak at $667 in September 2012.